416 Dr. H. Woodivard — On the Fossil Sivenia. 



the acquisition of an almost perfect slteleton for the British Museum 

 (Natural History) appears deserving some special notice.^ 



A detailed description of the Ehyltna is rendered almost superero- 

 gatory by the magnificent work of the late Dr. J. F, Brandt, of 

 (St. Petersburg,^ who in his Monograph, ' Symbolce SirenologicEe,' 

 1846-68, has left us a masterly and detailed account of the anatomy 

 of this interesting genus, accompanied by admirably executed plates. 



The head in Rhytina, and indeed in all the Sirenia, is rounded, 

 and of moderate size, never disproportionately large, as in the 

 Whales ; the neck is short and scarcely offers any marked con- 

 striction between the head and body. But, although short, the neck 

 is capable of a considerable amount of movement, which is not the 

 case in any of the Cetacea, with which group the Sirens were 

 formerly confounded. 



The muzzle is truncated and obtuse, and the nostrils, which are 

 placed above the fore part of the snout, are valvular and distinct. 

 The external ear is absent, or very small ; the eyes very small with 

 an imperfect eyelid, but a well-developed nictitating membrane. 

 The form of the body is depressed, fusiform, tapering behind, and 

 without any dorsal fin ; the tail is flattened and expanded horizontally, 

 as in the Cetacea. 



The fore limbs appear to be remarkably free, and capable of being 

 moved from the shoulder-joint. Thus the living Manatee has been 

 observed to use its fore limbs, "manus," to assist in bringing the 

 food towards the mouth in feeding ; and, as the mammary glands 

 are axillary, the females all hold the young, in early life, under 

 their arms.* 



The pelvis in the Sirenia is exceedingly rudimentary, consisting 

 of a pair of small bones suspended at some distance below the 

 vertebral column. (These have not been observed in Bhytina.) 

 There is no trace of any hind limb ; but a rudimentary femur 

 has been noticed in another extinct form of Sirenian {Halitherium). 



The head in Hhytina is small in proportion to the long and very 

 thick body. The bones of the skull are massive, but very loosely 

 connected together. 



1 The first account of this acquisition was read hefore the Geological Society of 

 London, 25 March, 1885, entitled: — "On an almost perfect Skeleton of Rhytina 

 gigas {Rhytina Stelleri, ' Steller's Sea-cow'), obtained by Mr. Eobert Damon, 

 F.G.S., from the Pleistocene Peat-deposits on Behring's Island. By Henry Wood- 

 ward, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., etc.," and appeared in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, 

 1885, August No. vol. xli. pp. 457-472. A portion of this article, together with 

 two of its illustrations, is, by permission of the President, reproduced here. 



2 One of the contemporary writers on Rhytina with Brandt, after Steller, was 

 Alexander v. Nordmann, Professor of Zoology in the Imperial University of 

 Helsiugfors, in Finland (see Beitrage zur Kenntnissdes Knochen-Baues der lihytina 

 Stelleri, von Dr. Alexander v. Nordmann, 4to. Helsiugfors, 1861, Acta Soc. Scient. 

 Fennicse, torn. vii. with 5 plates). 



* That the appearance of these grotesque animals, no doubt frequently seen by the 

 earlier voyagers, both in the East and West Indies and on the coasts of Africa, 

 should have originated the legends of Mermaids and Sirens, seems at first sight 

 incredible ; but art was then in its infancy in this country, and doubtless the 

 engraver, who portrayed at second hand the features of the "sea-siren," had but 

 little assistance in his delineation from the narrator. 



